aloe vera

hi everyone

i have had this plant for three years now and was given to me by my mother in law. it flowered the year i got it and i think wont flower for a number of years again.
i recently had this plant in my kitchen in the shade on a counter of a south facing window but it didnt get any direct sunlight.
i repotted it a month or so ago and stood it in front of a patio door which faces south too so that it gets plenty of sun.
i watered it well, whereas before it got minimal water but thrived.
i dont think it likes where it is and the new top growth has brown tips and the leaves feel soft. have i over watered it or does it not like full sun?
i can move it but it will be a shady position and at nearly 3 feet tall it isnt easy to place.
also, if it does like the sun can i place it outside in the summer with my jade plant?
thanks.

 

Aloe sandy,(sorry couldn't resist that).
Yes it likes the sun but it can burn if placed in full sun suddenly after being in the shade for a while.
You did well to get a flower,but I guess the repot followed by being "watered well" could possibly have caused some root rot, maybe, its one of those plants you can 'kill with kindness'.
It can go outside but wait until the weather really warms up, and try to keep a bit on the dry side.

 

thanks for the reply pete. shall go back to ignoring it now and i think i will move it away from the window then and only let it get a couple of hours a day of sun.

 

Hi Sandy
Check out this link Theres lots of info on Aloe in that thread
http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000308

 

thanks for the link, seems like i am killing it with kindness. it must be about 8 years old now and has produced loads of babies over the 5 years i have had it. i have a pic of it, it is being supported by canes to stop it from falling over as it was in a very tiny pot. i think also i might have put it in a pot thas way too big for it.

 

Hi sandy

Not saying it isn't a variety but its a bit different to my own Aloe Vera and most I have seen

I'll try to post a pic up later but its usually not so tall growing, more spreading and clump forming than tall and has light purply tinges to the leaves

unless its the fact it hasn't had direct sunlight that has made it a bit leggy and bright green, many holiday resorts abroad now have them planted around pools and gardens so they can take full sun ok (especially british sun )

 

thats the only pic ive found of it and i cant find my trusty plant book to properly identify it. i think i know which kind you are talking about and has bands across the leaves.
will look for it tomorrow.
i agree that its got leggy at the top but its not something you can cut back. i have a smaller one thats 3 years old and can take a pic of it as its more compact but they do grow up in a column rather than from the base.
thanks for all the input though

 

I think it is correct its just the elongation and bright colour prob due to lack of sunlight that looks a bit different

there is one with bands on the leaves aloe variegata (partridge breasted aloe) that is related but not a vera

Steve

 

Ok Its a bit delapidated but it was an import

 

Sandy, just seen your picture, personally I dont think its aloe vera. There are so many aloes and you would need an expert to say for sure. But it dont look right to me, as Steve says its too tall and too green.
Could be aloe ciliaris which is a climber and can reach 15 ft in the right conditions, but thats just a guess could be way off.

 

Hia, I would say that Sandy's plant is an Aloe Jucunda, what do you think?

 

thanks for the replies guys.
not sure about the jucunda jomack as it doesnt have any blotches and only the new growth at the top turns upwards, but its something to consider though thanks.
pete, i hope it doesnt grow to 15 ft, yikes!!
steve the green leaves does look like your aloe but again no blotches.
it hasnt grown any more since the pic but its got baby aloes growing from half way up which i found really weird, as they usually grow from the bottom.
the baby plants look identical to the pic i put up from the web.
i havent got it outside yet, still too blooming cold!

 

Sandy I ve had another think about this and I have an Aloe Striatula growing in the garden. It doesn't have leaves at the bottom like yours but it is very green the same as yours. Tell me does yours have vertical stripes on the stem between the leaves.

 

The striping may be less obvious in a plant grown indoors. Just dashed out to take this one.

 

Sandy I have one similar to yours, but very much smaller (about a foot high now, with lots of off-shoots of various sizes, but grows rapidly!) Semms to have thrived since I moved unlike another of my aloes which is like the one in the photo above.
Bought a few years ago as a rather small and battered plant in Sainsbury's I took pity on, it thrived in my last place - a top florr flat, where it lived on the windowsill getting watered when I remembered. It had big fleshy leaves, and quadrupled in size. Sadly, since I moved to my house, there are no sills big enough, so it is on a shelf, but it keeps dying from underneath. By which I mean the bottom-most leaves dry out and shrivel to a crisp, which you can break off. Still seems to grow from the top centre, but as you break off the underneath leaves, it is just getting taller and less attractive as it goes. Not sure what I can do with it now, as I re-potted it, but didn't think I should bury the long "stem" in case it rots, so it still isn't very attractive.